By Ifham Nizam
Between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of the total populations of the Negombo and Batticaloa Municipal Councils are vulnerable to sea level rise in 2040, a study by the University of Moratuwa, has estimated.
Speaking at the initiation of a pilot project titled ‘Climate Resilient Action Plan for Coastal Urban Areas, Sri Lanka (CCSL)’, Moratuwa University, Architecture Facility, Dean Prof. P. K. S. Mahanama, said that Batticaloa and Negombo have been vulnerable to climate related natural disasters during the last few decades and particularly in 2000.
He said Batticaloa recently experienced its biggest floods in the last 100 years.
During December 2009 – January 2010 heavy rains resulted in loss of life and property while significantly damaging the emerging coastal tourism industry."Frequently increasing storm surges have also resulted in significant losses to livelihoods in both Batticaloa and Negombo," he added.
Environment Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said the project would be a momentous initiative to implement the adaptation measures in the coastal zone. The project would establish multipurpose green belts to protect lagoons and coastal areas, restore mangrove ecosystem and the coastal biodiversity.
The process and lessons learnt would be replicated in other coastal cities while climate change resilient approaches would be included in the urban planning and budgetary frameworks, the Minister said.
Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hilde Haraldstad, said that the Norwegian Government would support Sri Lanka on research, development and technology for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIV) together with its national partners – University of Moratuwa, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Batticaloa and Negombo initiated the project.
NIV International Projects, Director Prof. Harsha Ratnaweera said that 70 per cent of the Sri Lanka’s urban population and 80 per cent of its economic infrastructure networks are concentrated in coastal cities which are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, flooding, salination, of water resources, storm surges, cyclones and droughts.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=38379
Climate resilient action plans: B'caloa, Negombo MCs as pilot areas
Disna MUDALIGE
The Batticaloa and Negombo Municipal Councils have been selected as pilot areas to implement a project to introduce climate resilient action plans for coastal urban areas. The project aims to establish multipurpose green belts to protect the lagoon and the coastal areas, restore mangrove eco-system and coastal biodiversity in these two municipal councils, said Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.
The minister was speaking at the inaugural workshop of this project held in Colombo yesterday. The project will develop and implement climate resilient adaptation strategies and supporting action plans in these two Municipal Councils during the next 20 months. These two areas have been selected initially since they had experienced frequent floods during the recent past.
Minister Yapa observed that the project would also develop a Geographic Information System (GIS) based rapid response system and a knowledge management centre for climate exacerbated disasters while providing adaptation training on disaster resilient, energy efficient and low cost shelter in the Negombo and Batticaloa areas.
The project is being implemented by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research together with UN Habitat, Moratuwa University and the two municipal councils. It is prepared in consultation with the Environment Ministry to support climate change activities funded by the Nordic Climate Change facility.
The minister said that the project would be replicated in other coastal cities while climate change resilient approaches would be included in the urban planning and budgetary frameworks with the lessons learned from the process.
He also said that the ministry is working to promote and establish forests and forest parks in urban areas to reduce the heat island effect. He said that the government is specifically incorporating environmental dimensions including climate change into national development agenda to fulfill the vision of achieving the sustainable development goals of the country.
Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Hilde Haraldstad commended the initiative and described Sri Lanka as a middle income country with fast growth and development. Heads of the key stakeholders of the project and specialists in the field also participated.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/11/05/news13.asp
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